The Strangest of All
by omens
Summary: Life gets turned upside down for a certain science teacher. I suck at summaries. Multiple ships.
1. Meeting

_**A/N: This is my first Strange Days fic, so please be kind. For the record I'm throwing Past and Inquiry out the window and Conclusions isn't even a factor. And I know Z's name is actually Noel, but it looks like a girl's name to me so I'm changing it to Nole.**_

The Strangest Of All

Meetings

Disclaimer: Yeah, like it's mine.

………………

"Safe."

Professor Nole Zachary looked up to see who had made the lighthearted comment, prepared to issue a month's detention, and locked onto a pair of green eyes he'd never seen before. Because surely he would have remembered them.

"You alright?" the voice asked. A feminine voice, he now realized.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he answered and began to sit up.

"Whoa!" she cried and forced him back onto the floor by his shoulders. "You might have a concussion; you shouldn't sit up too fast."

Lying on the hallway floor of Blake Holsey High was not somewhere he ever expected to be. And certainly not with a perfect stranger fussing over him. He'd walked into his office to find some contraption, most likely Lucas's, hooked up on the table and when he'd attempted to examine it he'd been blow backwards and slid twenty feet down the hall on his back.

Ignoring her protests, he sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head were it had collided with the door. There would definitely be an impressive welt the next day.

"How many?" her voice interrupted his inspection of his head and he looked up to see her waving her fingers at him.

"Three." he replied.

She smiled at him and he took the opportunity to look at his impromptu nurse. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties with long sandy colored hair and a dusting of freckles across her nose and high cheekbones. In all, she was quite lovely.

"So, how did you end up in this rather interesting location? Do you just happen to enjoy the exceptional view of the ceiling?" She was smiling broadly now, with a teasing note to her voice that seemed very familiar to him.

"One of my students…" he never finished because at that moment the entire science club came barreling down the hall toward him.

"Professor Z, are you okay?" Corrine Baxter asked breathlessly, coming to a stop next to him.

"I'm fine Corrine. But what was that…thing?"

"That," Josie Trent spoke up, "was Marshall's synthetic force field creator."

"Good news. It works." he told them, beginning got get to his feet. The girl immediately moved to help him.

In her efforts to help him stand, she turned around to face the five students standing in front of them.

"Luce?" Lucas Randall said uncertainly.

"Hey!" she replied and released her hold on Professor Zachary to fling her arms around the young man. He in turn wrapped his around her equally as tight.

The rest looked at one another quizzically. After a few seconds Marshall Wheeler's expression changed, as if a light bulb had been turned on.

Lucas and the young woman broke apart and, still grinning, faced the rest of the group. "Guys, this is my sister Lucy."

Everybody said hello and Lucas begin to introduce them, but she cut him off. "Let's see…" she began, "Marshall." She'd clasped her hands together and pointed her index fingers at Marshall. At his nod, she went on. "Corrine. Josie, and Vaughn." She ticked off and ended up back at Professor Zachary. "And the gentleman with the impressive sliding skills would have to be Professor Z, right?"

He smiled at her humor and extended a hand toward her. "Nice to meet you Lucy."

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked.

"Nice to see you, too." She replied sarcastically. "Didn't Dad tell you?" Lucas shook his head.

"Well…"she began but was interrupted by Principal Durst rounding the corner and spotting them.

"Ah, Miss Randall." She walked over and took hold of her hand, shaking it vigorously. "How wonderful to see you again."

"You went to school here?" Marshall asked.

Lucy nodded. "I was a year behind your brother. You are Grant's brother, right?" Marshall nodded.

"So, where should I put my stuff?" she asked Principal Durst.

"Stuff?" Lucas muttered. All eyes drifted over to the three suitcases littering the section of floor in front of the doors.

"Didn't you hear Mr. Randall? You're sister is going to be our new teachers assistant." Principal Durst explained.

"Teacher's assistant? You mean you'll be working here?" Lucas asked.

"Yep. In Mrs. Foster's English class."

"Oh dear." Principal Durst said. "Didn't you get my message?"

Lucy shook her head. "What message?"

"Mrs. Foster has fallen ill and her classes are going to be taken over by a sub for the remainder of the year." She explained.

"A sub? Alright!" Vaughn Pearson exclaimed.

He then blushed sheepishly off Principal Durst and Corrine's dirty looks. "Sorry."

"Well, I don't see why I still can't stay." Lucy said, reverting back to the subject at hand.

"Oh, I'm not kicking you out. I just thought it better to move you to another class with an established teacher." She said, her gaze ticking to the side.

She followed her gaze and found herself looking at Professor Zachary. "Like a certain science teacher?"

"Exactly."

………………..

_**A/N: Well, should I go on?**_


	2. Gettig to Know Me

_**A/N: I'm glad you guys like it. Now I can go on.**_

Getting to Know Me

…………………

"Nothing against you," Lucy said to Professor Zachary, "but I hate science. Isn't there another English class I could go to? Or art? Music? No offense."

"None taken." he assured her.

"Believe me Miss Randall, I examined every possibility and this seemed the best solution for all." Principal Durst said.

"But I hate science. I always have." Lucy argued.

"As I recall," the principal said and rose to come around her desk to where the other two were standing, "you received straight A's in science while you were here."

"Just because I can do it doesn't mean I like it."

"Principal Durst, perhaps if you explain to Miss Randall exactly why you made the choice you did, it would help." Professor Z said as he nudged his glasses higher up on his nose.

"Very well. I chose for you to assist in Professor Zachary's class because he is the youngest faculty member here, so I thought the two of you would get along the best. I **do** remember that despite your marks, you never cared for science and I thought this might help you overcome that. And lastly, Professor Zachary sponsors a school activity and you helping him would also help you."

"The Science Club?" they said in unison.

"Yes. Of which our brother is a member. This will give you the opportunity to spend more time with him. I'm sure you can't object to that." Miss Durst concluded and held the door open for them. "I suggest you begin getting yourself situated and Miss Randall…"

"Yes?" she asked tentatively, turning back to the door.

"I also suggest you ask Professor Zachary to inform you of proper faculty attire."

Lucy looked down at her outfit and back at Professor Z as they walked down the hall toward the science room. "Is there something wrong with my clothes?"

He looked at her. Jeans. Black stiletto boots. Sheer black top with a wide neck which showed the strap of her black bra and tank top. Ornate, dangly earrings. Her hair was loose down her back in a tumble of waves. But the topper had to be the generous amount of black eye makeup she'd used to create that often coveted smoky rock star look.

"There's nothing wrong with it. " he assured her. "But you look more like a student than a teacher."

"I am a student." she reminded him.

"Yes." He stopped in front of the door to the science lab and held it open for her. "But while you're here you are also an authority figure. It's probably best that you look like one."

She scanned his form head to foot, a frown on her face. "Sorry, but tweed is not my style."

He chuckled. "It's an acquired taste."

She smiled at him. "Well, what do you suggest? A uniform?"

Professor Z directed his hand to a chair at the table in front of his desk for her to sit. "Maybe something a bit more…mature. Not quite so sexy."

"Sexy? Why Professor…" she teased.

He blushed slightly and cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm sure you'll be fine. And believe me, Principal Durst will tell you if she doesn't approve of your outfit. So why don't we get down to the lesson plan."

He pulled a folder from the filing cabinet behind him and laid it in front of her. They spent the next hour and a half going over the curriculum for the semester and he answered her questions about the faculty, students, and any other rules she needed to know.

She was just about to ask about the science club when her stomach growled loudly. He looked at her quizzically and they both laughed.

"If memory serves me correctly, the cafeteria food here isn't the best in the world. What are the alternatives?"

"Well," he began "some teachers cook in the teacher's lounge. Other go into town or order in."

"Is that Thai place in town still there?" she asked quickly.

"Yes, but we'll have to pick it up. They refuse to deliver here." he said.

Her mouth dropped slightly. "Still?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "It sounds like you may know a thing or two about it."

She squirmed guiltily like a little girl who had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. "Well…"

"Yes?" he prompted.

"My sophomore year Grant and I, Grant Wheeler, were playing around with some foam darts outside and we sort of accidentally knocked a flower pot off a windowsill on a delivery boy's head. They haven't delivered here since." she confessed.

"It makes sense now." he said. Smiling indulgently at her, he thought a second about her story. "So you're the girl that stole all the clothes out of the boys locker room during senior boy's gym class while they were in the shower."

Her mouth dropped fully open that time. "How do you know about that?"

"Grant came to see Marshall not long ago. After he left, some teachers began talking about a few of his more colorful exploits here. And more than one mentioned a girl cohort."

"That'd be me."

"So you two…"

She nodded and her voice softened. "For three years."

"Well then," he said to change the mood of the room back to thelightheartdness it had held before, "if we're going to beat the dinner rush downtown we better get going."

She stood form her stool to face him. "Shall we?" she held her elbow out to him.

He laughed and held the door open for her. "We shall."

…………………

"I'm sorry!" she said between fits of giggles, "I just can't see you playing the guitar."

"It's the tweed, isn't it?" he asked.

" 'Fraid so."

He was just about to retort when they rounded the corner and nearly collided with Miss Dubin, the librarian.

She looked Lucy over critically from head to toe and turned to smile sweetly at Professor Z. "Miss Durst was looking for you earlier Professor Zachary. Something about a staff announcement."

"Woops." Lucy said, trying desperately to stifle her giggles.

Miss Dubin pointedly ignored the younger woman's presence. "Perhaps you should leave social activities for the weekends."

He looked confused for a moment, then enlightenment came over his face and he smiled. "It's not what you think. Lucy isn't my date."

"She's my new teacher's assistant." he explained to Miss Dubin's dubious expression. At this, the librarian's expression grew even more unconvinced. She looked back over at Lucy, as if silently asking for confirmation.

"Noodle?" Lucy asked sweetly and held the take-out container toward her.

"No thank you." she said briskly.

"I'm assuming that was the faculty announcement Principle Durst was referring to." Z said, hiding a smile.

Miss Dubin muttered a welcome and walked quickly down the hall.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'd say she was jealous." Lucy smirked.

"Of what?" Z asked, genuinely perplexed.

She rolled her eyes and they continued on down the hall. "She thought I was your date." Off his continued confused expression she added slowly, "She likes you."

He looked in the direction Miss Dubin had just walked. A mixed look of confusion and intrigue come over his face. She laughed and took hold of his arm to continue their trek. "Come on Romeo, you have to show me how to get to my room."

…………………

"Well?" Lucy asked the six occupants of the science lab the next morning before class, "Do I look like an authority figure now?"

They took in her appearance. Black knee length skirt. A fitted deep green quarter sleeve cardigan the same color as her eyes. Black heels. And she had left her hair straight, tucked behind her ears. But she had on a chunky silver charm bracelet on one wrist and a tank watch on the other and dangly green and silver earrings. In all, she looked polished but still her age.

"Very nice. Professional." Professor Z assured her.

"I don't look old?"

Again everyone looked her over. "No." they all said together.

"You're gonna do great." Lucas assured her once the bell rang and they headed toward their seats.

Professor Z introduced her once the class had all assembled and Kubiak asked if she was sure she was related to Lucas. After she confirmed it, Z began class.

And everyone knew right away it was going to be a very interesting year.

…………………

_**A/N: Not much action, but I'm building up the plot. There's more of the science club in the next chapter and a surprise guest later on.**_


	3. Fixing It

…………………

Fixing It

…………………

"So what's going on with you and Josie?"

Lucas looked up at his sister's question, slightly taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, I'm not blind. I've seen the way you look at her. And the awkwardness…" Lucy said in a teasing voice.

"Luce, just drop it. Okay?"

"Why? If you like her-" he slammed shut the book he had been reading and she stopped talking, "I do. But she doesn't. End of story. " He gathered up his stuff and stalked inside.

Lucy looked around the tables where the students were lounging outside. It was the fifth straight day of the unseasonable heat wave and it was much too hot o stay indoors or move around too much. Even with the air conditioning, it was still over a hundred degrees.

There was definitely something Lucas wasn't telling her. And that bothered her. Lucas had always told her everything. What about his liking this girl couldn't he tell her? It was obvious they were friends. He wasn't dating somebody else, so there was no guilt about liking her. She just didn't get it.

"You look like a young lady who's deep in thought." Professor Z said, setting a lemonade in front of her. "Anything in particular?"

He sat down on the bench across from her while she played with the straw in her glass. "It's Lucas. "

"You two have a fight?"

She smiled. "We almost never fight. And never about anything serious. But I asked him something today, and he just completely shut me out."

"Girl trouble?" he grinned.

"How did you know?"

"Because I've gotten to know Lucas pretty well, and I've noticed he only keeps quiet about things that are really personal to him."

"Like girls?"

"Like Josie." he clarified. "That is what you two were discussing, wasn't it?"

"You know?" she asked, surprised that a teacher would be up to date on his students' love lives.

"They're not exactly good at hiding it."

She sat up, now certain there **was** something she didn't know. "They?"

"Josie, Lucas, and Vaughn."

"Vaughn?"

"It's a long story." he said.

She scooted over toward him and folded her hands on the table in front of her. "I've got time. "

………………….

"Lucas." Lucy called down the hall.

He stopped and turned around to face her, looking like she was going to torture him.

"I'm sorry about before." she said sincerely.

He relaxed visibly. He had probably been terrified that she was going to start grilling him again. "It's okay."

"No it's not. You didn't want to talk about it, and I should have dropped it. But I love you so much, I can't stand that I can't fix this for you."

"The big sister curse." he smiled at her.

"Just let me rant about how blind she is to not see how great you are." Lucy said.

"Oh I'm sure she sees it," he told her with a touch of sadness in his voice, "but she just thinks Vaughn is…greater."

"Sixteen year old girls aren't necessarily the best judge of guys." She put her arm around his shoulders and they walked down the hall towards the cafeteria together.

"Says the girl who just broke up with the guy she was dating at sixteen a year ago." he replied.

"I never said we got smarter with age."

"I knew that."

She pushed him playfully. "At least I tried. We never would have gotten together at all if I hadn't made a move beyond the friend phase. It was hard, but worth it."

Lucas had stopped walking and she followed his eyes to a table in the back where Josie and Vaughn were sitting together, sharing to a walkman, very close together.

"Was there someone else?" Lucas asked her.

She shook her head sadly. "No, there wasn't."

…………………

Professor Z walked slowly down to the teacher's lounge. It was well past midnight, but the thermometer outside his window still read ninety-seven degrees. Unable to sleep, he decided to go to the teacher's lounge and grades some papers.

He was surprised to find Lucy there, staring glumly into a mug in his favorite chair by the window.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked without looking up.

"How did you guess?"

She looked up at him with a small smile. "You're awake."

He chuckled. "Straight to the point. I like that."

"Anything in particular or just an insomniac?" she asked.

"I can't sleep when it's this hot." he replied. "You?"

"I was thinking about Lucas. I hate that I can't just fix this for him. I've always been able to make everything better. But this is different." she confessed. She laid down the book she had been reading earlier and rubbed her face with her hands distractedly.

"I understand how you feel." Z told her. "I don't have any siblings, but there are times I've wished I could change things for my students."

She smiled indulgently. "That's not exactly the same thing."

"No, it's not." he admitted.

"It's just that…after my parents split up, my mom moved away and Dad was working a lot, so I had to take care of him. I still feel like his protector in a way. Even though he's taller than me now."

"I can understand why you feel that way. But Lucas isn't a kid anymore." he sat papers on the small table between their chairs and took her hand. "You can't keep the bad things away from him forever."

"I know. I think I'm just overcompensating. When I came here, Lucas was only nine. So I couldn't be there as much as I wanted to."

He didn't really know how to respond to that. He just rubbed her hand soothingly until she pulled it away gently and went to get another cup of tea.

He picked up her book and skimmed it. Love poems. A few lines in he realized they were very…sexy love poems. He began to blush just reading them.

"You know what?" she said suddenly.

He took in the expression on her face. "I'm almost afraid to ask."

"I know why we can't sleep."

"Didn't we just go over that."

His voice sounded odd. She looked at his hand and then the blush staining his cheeks. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"You don't look fine. In fact, you look a little flushed." Her voice held a playful tone.

"It's almost a hundred degrees in here." he argued.

"That's not why you're so hot under the collar though, is it?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but couldn't really think of anything to say. She was right.

"Now I know this is a good idea." she skidded over and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet and out the door.

"What's a good idea?"

"We're too distracted to sleep. There's a pond in the woods about a half a mile from here. It'll be perfect."

"Perfect for what?" he stumbled slightly as she continued to pull him toward the faculty rooms.

"I can't fix Lucas's problem, but I can fix ours."

She came to a halt outside his room, three doors down from his, and released her hold on his wrist. "How?" he asked, dreading the answer due to the mischievous twinkle in her big green eyes.

"How would you feel about a little midnight swim?"


	4. Complications

………………….

Complications

………………….

"This is such a bad idea." Z said as he and Lucy made their way through the woods.

"No one forced you to come." she replied.

"Like I would let you go off into the woods at almost one a.m. by yourself."

She gave him a dubious expression. "I've been to this pond a million times. I could find it in my sleep."

When he didn't say anything else, she decided to have a little fun with him. "It's alright you know. I get it."

"Get what?" he asked, confusion written clearly across his face.

"Why you didn't want to come."

When he continued to look at her expectantly she finally said, "You're shy. It's so cute."

"I'm not shy." he said stubbornly.

"Oh. Then you're just a prude." she grinned at him broadly and laughed in delight when his mouth dropped open in shock.

"I am not a prude." he declared hotly.

"You never know. The tweed, the bowties… and you did blush at those poems." she continued.

She could see e anger starting to flare up in his eyes, so she put her hand on his arm consolingly. "I'm just kidding."

He looked ahead on the path. "How much further?"

"About twenty feet."

Silently, they made their way through the trees until they finally reached the pond. He surveyed it appraisingly. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Safe?"

"Are there any bacteria in it? Animals? Pollution?" he clarified.

"How should I know?" she asked.

"You never tried to find out?"

"No. This may come as a bit of a surprise, but not everyone looks for the bad in life first. It kind of takes the fun out of things."

"I don't look for the bad in life," he told her, "I'm just cautious."

"Where's the fun in being cautious?" she asked, more to herself than to him. She kicked off her shoes and hung her towel on a nearby tree limb. She turned away from him, as if by afterthought, and took off her denim shorts. It was obvious now that the tank top she'd been wearing was actually the top to her bathing suit, and came all the way to the top of the matching boy shorts. Only the tiny sliver of skin exposed when she moved revealed that it wasn't a one piece.

"Your turn." she turned back to him, and crossed her arms over her chest. A smirk was playing over her lips. It was obvious she was enjoying this. "Unless you're too embarrassed."

Swallowing his nerves, Z took hold of his tee shirt and quickly pulled it off over his head. He then toed off his shoes and tossed his towel over hers.

She smirked at him. "Impressive." Her face broke into a huge grin as she watched him blush furiously.

While he tried to think of something to say, she jumped into the water. Resurfacing, she waved her arms, floating aimlessly across the surface. "Heaven."

Shaking his head in amusement, he dove in. He broke through the top and caught her smiling at him. "This is perfect."

"Told you." she said smugly. He splashed her in retaliation, leading to an all out water fight, that only ended when she dunked him for the third time.

Once they settled down, they were both content to just wade around. But the comfortable silence didn't last long. "How long have you been at Blake Holsey?"

Z looked over at Lucy. He should have known she wouldn't let it be quiet for long. "Almost three years."

"Do you like it?"

He nodded.

"Well aren't you the chatterbox."

"What made you decide to go into teaching?" he asked.

Momentarily caught off guard by his turning the tables, she blinked repeatedly before replying. "I love kids."

"Do you want kids?" she asked after a beat.

He flailed slightly in the water. Regaining his balance, he took a deep breath. "I've never really thought about it."

"How come?"

He sighed in exasperation. "I just haven't."

"It's not like your too old or anything. You're what-thirty?" she flipped over onto her back and floated by him.

"Thirty-one." he replied.

"You're straight, right?"

He plunged his hands in the water, sending a huge spray at her. "Yes."

"Just checking."

"Do you want kids?"

Lucy shook her head, once ore unnerved by his tendency to turn her own questions back on her. "Definitely."

"You'd be a good mom." he said sincerely.

She stopped swimming and looked at him. "You really think so?"

"Of course. I've seen how you look out for Lucas, and the students adore you." His smile was so warm and genuine, she couldn't help but return it.

"We better get back before Durst realizes we're gone."

"She's asleep." he said.

"With Ms. Durst," she told him as she hopped out and grabbed her towel, "you can never be too sure."

On their way back to campus Lucy looked at him and said "You'd be a good dad you know."

He shook his head. "I doubt it."

She stopped and looked at him as if he were crazy. "Have you not seen the way the kids respond to you? And you actually care about them, you don't pretend. You'd be a wonderful father."

"I didn't exactly have the best role model for fatherhood." he said softly.

"I didn't have the world's greatest mom either, but you seem to think that doesn't matter. It's the same thing."

"Point taken."

She bumped her shoulder against his. "Just don't rule it out. Okay?" he nodded.

By this point they were back at the school. It was eerily quiet with all the students and faculty asleep. He held the door open for her and they crept quietly down the hall to their rooms.

This was difficult due to Lucy's giggling at the leaves Professor Z had found tangled in his hair.

"If you'd just hold still I could get them out." she hissed.

"Shh."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a baby." She tugged as gently as she could to extract a particularly stubborn leaf, and he jerked, nearly colliding with a vase. This prompted even more giggles.

"I'm sorry." she choked out between her laughter.

"We can't all be lucky enough to have the ability to put our hair up." he said, nodding his head toward the braid she'd done on the way to the pond.

She plucked at his hair. "Oh, I bet we could get a couple braids in here if we tried." He waved her hands away.

They had reached their rooms so they said goodnight. Z went into his room and Lucy continued on down the hallway.

He had just changed his clothes when here was a knock at his door. He opened it, hoping not to find Ms. Durst, but instead saw Lucy, still in her bathing suit.

"I'm locked out." she told him simply.

"How did you get locked out?"

"When I was changing I left my keys on the nightstand with my poetry book." she said sheepishly.

He sighed. Grabbing his own keys, he stepped out into the hallway and shut his door quietly behind him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go get the janitor to let you into your room." he explained.

She grabbed his arm. "It's after two o'clock. We can't wake him up, that would be so rude."

"Well then, we'll get Ms. Durst and she can wake him up."

"And who's going to tell her what we're doing out in the middle of the night?" Lucy asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because I'm not. I spent enough time getting lectured by her when I was a student."

"We have to tell her." he said.

"But wouldn't you get into trouble?"

"For what?" he asked, mystified.

"She might jump to the wrong conclusions about us being together at," she checked the hall clock, "two thirty and ask why I was out of my room."

It dawned on him what she was implying and he paled. "I could get fired."

"And I don't want that. I like working with you, and Lucas would never forgive me."

"So, if we can't wake the janitor and we can't get Ms. Durst, what do you want me to do? Pick your lock?" he demanded.

"You can do that?"

"No." he admitted.

"I can't very well sleep on the hall floor." Lucy said.

"Well I'm open to suggestions."

Lucy chewed her bottom lip in concentration for a moment, then brightened as if a light bulb had been turned on. "I can stay with you."

…………………

_**A/N: Boring, I know. It was a filler chapter. I promise more science club in the next one.**_


End file.
